An Overview
Rivaled only by Bandai, no company has put out the sheer volume of vinyl toys than Marmit. First coming on the scene in 1996 with their "Vinyl Paradise" kaiju series, Marmit has gone on to create figures of just about every major Godzilla suit variation, as well as multiple figures of all the co-starring, secondary and most of the more obscure characters from Toho monster films.
Marmit's vinyl figure collection has spanned across three major product lines. The "Vinyl Paradise" collection (1996-1999) took a major vintage slant toward toy design, but coupled it with more realistic detailing than one would see on an old Bullmark or Marusan toy. Figures were often sculpted with oversize heads and small, mis-proportioned arms, legs and tails.
Marmit's second figure line was the "Para Babies". It began around the same time of the "Vinyl Paradise" series (hence the title) but didn't begin to include Toho monsters until 2001. The "Para Baby" series featured smaller sized figures with somewhat more realistic sculpts than the previous line. Moreover, each figure was accompanied with a small plastic representation of a spaceship, vehicle or building related to the monster. The last Toho monster in this series was released in 2004.
The most recent figure line ・and certainly the longest lasting thus far ・is the "Monster Heaven" series which began in 2002. This particular line has by far the largest variety of Toho-related figures, spanning all three Godzilla series and including some of the very best sculpts of stylized figures from any company. The "Monster Heaven" series has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, sculpts are constantly improving and Marmit frequently tinkers with various types of vinyl, figure sizes and ・like all of their product ・there are a multitude of variants for any given release. Many of the more recent figures are even able to rival the likes of Bandai in terms of accuracy and realism, though Marmit will also frustratingly couple accurate sculpts with awkward paint schemes or translucent or double-casted vinyl.
Aside from these three main lines, Marmit has released various oversized figures ranging from twelve to a whopping twenty inches tall. There have been candy case figures (hollow, simplified figures with removable plugs at the bottom), a short lived mid-sized figure line, mini-figure sets and subsidiary lines such as "Gigabrain" and "Globsters". Marmit also has their own line of model kits in the "Iron Joe" series which feature sculpts as close to movie accurate as possible. The kits are also frequently released as built up, fully painted vinyl toys.
Marmit figures tend to pose a problem for collectors. Many are made in extremely limited quantities as they're ・for the most part ・only available through mail order or at various toy shows or other events in Japan. Add the fact that the figures, when new, usually run in the neighborhood of $80-$100 and you end up with toys that most American collectors tend to avoid entirely in favor of the cheaper and easier to find Bandai toys. Additionally, aside from one very well stocked internet database there's really not a lot of information out there on these toys. Hence "Marmit Maddness". I'm not going to go into detail on everything Marmit has ever done as that would be rather pointless. What these articles are meant to do is showcase some of the best that Marmit has to offer. Perhaps this way the company may win some new fans, or at least I can attempt to erase some of the stigma associated with these toys.
